Delhi may receive moderate rain, hail in certain parts today

Delhi will most likely receive light to moderate rain, accompanied by thunderstorm and hail in certain parts, from Friday morning under the influence of a western disturbance that is passing over the north-west region, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said

Delhi will most likely receive light to moderate rain, accompanied by thunderstorm and hail in certain parts, from Friday morning under the influence of a western disturbance that is passing over the north-west region, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.

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Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said starting early Friday, parts of Delhi and NCR will receive rain and thunderstorm along with strong winds.

“The forecast was that Delhi was to get light rain, starting Thursday evening, but the possibility now seems that we are likely to receive rain from Friday morning. The temperature will also fall by at least three-four degrees,” Srivastava said.

Parts of the national capital had on Wednesday evening received light showers, accompanied by thunderstorm in certain parts. The last time a western disturbance impacted the city in this manner was on February 5 and Met officials said such a prolonged period without a western disturbance was one of the reasons the higher than normal temperatures in the months of February and March.

Further explaining the weather variations, an IMD scientist said that when a western disturbance passes over a region, the cloudy sky keeps the sunlight from directly hitting the ground and thereby increase the daytime temperatures. On Thursday, the maximum temperature recorded at the Safdarjung observatory, which is considered the official marker for the city, was 35.2 degrees Celsius, six degrees above the season’s normal.

The minimum temperature was 17.3 degrees Celsius, three degrees above what is considered normal for the season.

IMD forecast said as an impact of Friday’s rain, the temperature over the weekend is expected to fall. However, from Monday, the mercury will start climbing again, the IMD said.

“Gusty winds are also expected to bring relief from pollution. The wind speeds are likely to touch around 40-50kmph on Friday,” the IMD forecast said.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings show that on Thursday, the overall air quality index of the city was 242, in the “poor” zone. On Wednesday, the AQI had improved to the “moderate” category, with an AQI of 175.